The collaboration takes baseball gambling to the next level starting this season by providing real-time statistics and audio-visual feeds to global media markets and betting organizations.

Sports data intelligence provider Sportradar has entered into a multi-year exclusive partnership with Major League Baseball. The deal involves media and gaming rights both internationally and domestically, starting with the 2019 season.

Using the league’s technology and stat operators, Sportradar will collect real-time game statistics from every ballpark, and distribute it to media companies and regulated sports betting entities across the globe. The collaboration is expected to improve liability management in sports gambling.

Per the deal, Sportradar—which is based in Switzerland but runs U.S. operations out of Minneapolis—does not have exclusive rights for distribution of data to sports betting operators within the U.S. However, it has exclusivity for distributing live audio-visual game feeds and real-time statistics to legal gaming operators outside the country, and will serve as the official supplier of the MLB’s real time betting data feed in the U.S.

“Sportradar, a proven industry leader in data distribution, is perfectly positioned to help MLB deliver an exceptional Official MLB betting feed,” says Kenny Gersh, executive vice president of MLB’s Gaming & New Business Ventures. “We are excited about the opportunities that this partnership will unlock as the sports betting landscape continues to unfold in the U.S.”

Along with services to betting entities, the MLB partnership—which comes less than a month after Sportradar beefed up its own interactive capabilities by securing a partnership with interactive content provider Arkadium—gives Sportradar sole rights to distribute its real-time game statistics to media both within the U.S. and abroad.

The new partnership also involves MLB using Sportradar’s fraud detection system and related services to enhance MLB’s game integrity protection capabilities, as well as plans for Sportradar to help MLB develop new fan engagement products.

“This is not only a tremendous opportunity for Sportradar, but ultimately it opens up new doors for MLB fans who have historically shown a proclivity for sophisticated data,” says Carsten Koerl, Sportradar CEO.

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